Zither music. A gun shot. And a haunting baritone voice. "That was the shot that killed Harry Lime. He died in a sewer beneath Vienna, as those of you know who saw the movie "The Third Man". Yes, that was the end of Harry Lime - but it was not the beginning. Harry Lime had many lives - and I can recount all of them. How do I know? Very simple: because my name is Harry Lime." This opening, considered one of the classic introductions of old time radio, along with the exquisite talent of Orson Welles makes The Lives of Harry Lime one of the richest, most intriguing programs ever produced in Radio's heyday.

The 1949 film "The Third Man" was an international success. Written by Graham Greene and directed by Carol Reed, the production stars Joseph Cotten as Holly Martins, a writer of pulp westerns, who travels to post-war Vienna at the behest of his old friend Harry Lime, played by Orson Welles. Upon his arrival at Lime's apartment, Martins discovers that Harry has been killed in a traffic accident and, soon after, attends his funeral. But it isn't long before he learns of Harry's true activities in Vienna as a black marketeer - and also begins to suspect that his old friend might not have been killed in that accident after all. Though the part itself is not large, Lime appears on screen for only a few minutes in the film - he is the central character and, indeed, the most interesting part of a truly classic film.

Dodging extensive debt in America in the late 1940s and accepting film roles as a way to raise funds for his future projects, Welles exiled himself to Great Britain and became acquainted with Harry Alan Towers, a radio producer whose company, Towers of London, was heavily into syndicated radio production. In Welles, Towers saw a personality and a talent that could quickly make his production company one of the leading lights in syndicated features.

Orson Welles had a unique and distinctive talent for radio; he had learned a great deal about dramatic production during his time as "The Shadow" in the 1930s and while creating and starring in "The Mercury Theatre on the Air" and "The Campbell Playhouse" and he brought many of radio's production techniques to his films. To this end, Welles signed with Towers to appear in a radio series to be titled The Lives of Harry Lime, based on the character from "The Third Man".

One hitch, however, remained. In "The Third Man", after cleverly eluding the authorities for almost the entire film, Lime is finally gunned down. The film was popular and widely known, so it simply wouldn't do to suddenly decide that Lime had either risen from the dead or had never been killed at all. So Towers, with Welles' involvement, decided to make The Lives of Harry Lime a prequel to "The Third Man". Lime's adventures in the exotic underworlds of Europe would be adventures that had taken place before his fateful time in Vienna, before he had been killed.

The character of Harry Lime, at least in the 52 half-hour adventures produced by Towers of London, is a somewhat difficult one to describe. Lime is a rogue, a scoundrel, and an opportunist - an amoral character whose main interest in life is making money and living well, no matter what underhanded activity is required. A criminal? Yes. A thief? Most certainly. And, of course, a man who is not to be trusted under any circumstances. But, for all of this, Harry Lime is a fascinating character that listeners have always found undeniably attractive - an anti-hero whose life, in some ways, bears a close resemblance to that of Welles himself, who was not above a bit of chicanery or performing a disappearing act to avoid responsibility. Harry is, above all, a survivor - and, to his credit, he has a habit of taking advantage of those who would readily be taking advantage of him if they had the chance.

Listening to the program today, fans of Orson Welles will immediately note his signature on the series. In many ways, The Lives of Harry Lime is a distillation of all Welles had learned from his years on stage, on radio, and in motion pictures. His magnificent voice, his bravado, as well as his talent for effective radio production, makes the series as much an Orson Welles production as one produced by Harry Alan Towers.

In this final volume from Radio Archives, all of the nuances in the programs can be heard in sparkling high fidelity sound - an important consideration for a program chock full of plot details, overlapping conversations, and multi-layered sound patterns. The Lives of Harry Lime, Volume 4 is the perfect closing chapter for a classic program that deserves exactly what it gave listeners-the best of everything.

Broadcast dates are for the first known broadcasts of these programs, which originated over Radio Luxembourg.

This is a review of The Lives of Harry Lime, now running to 4 volumes. This program, produced independently in England, is based on the unsavory character in the film The Third Man. Directed by Carol Reed, the film was a huge international hit and is still extremely popular among cineastes. Harry Lime in the film was a notorious vendor of adulterated penicillin, and his penicillin caused havoc among patients in Vienna. The mise en scene was Vienna during the four-power occupation after World War II. In the film, Lime was a scoundrel, and died on the run in the sewers of Vienna. Orson Welles played Lime beautifully, as a grinning swindler. Because of the fascination of the character, radio producers decided to bring him to the air, but somewhat cleaned up. He still remained a scoundrel, but a likable one. His adventures consist chiefly of efforts to swindle his victims, some decent citizens, some not. Not to make him too likable, Lime always ended up failing to take home the boodle. I suppose not pour encourager les autres. This makes these new adventures somewhat formulaic. But Welles is superb as Lime, and listening to him ham it up is a pleasure. It's a great achievement. The casts of the programs are excellent, no sneering villains. Add to this the excellent sound, and you have--almost--a neverending audio experience. I should add that this is sophisticated entertainment, part of that genre called "international intrigue." If you like this kind of thing, snap up the four albums.